Longest Day
by Totally-T3ii3
Summary: June twenty-first was the longest day of the year in 1958 what started out as a plan to have fun turned into a pact and beliefs that would last a life time. R&R. Past fic- they're all young.


Dedicated (again) to Dragonballgeek101 because, well, she got it stuck in my head first...  
Darry; age eleven  
Tim S.; age ten  
Two-Bit; age nine  
Dallas; age eight 1/2  
Johnny; age eight  
Steve; age seven 1/2  
Sodapop; age seven  
Ponyboy; age five

Yes! I did! Its another pointless one-shot about how the guys made a pact and adapted the name the Outsiders. Yes, I put Tim in even though he hardly makes an appearance.

* * *

He always got up with sun during summer- its just who he was. Darrel Curtis was a morning person and always would be. He'd hop out of bed and pull on jeans and shirt and a pair of old, batter sneakers then run into his little brother's room! Sodapop and Ponyboy had to share a room because one, there wasn't a fourth room, and two, Pony was scared of his own shadow. Their door was half-open, the hallway cast a triangle of light over the youngest Curtis boy's bed and clouded the middle childs bed in shadow. He threw the door open eagerly!

"Come on! Let's get up! Its summer!" he grinned at them, shaking Sodapop enthusiastically because the middle child was the easiest to convince and once the two of them wanted to do something Ponyboy immedeatly wanted to do it too. "Up! Up! Up, Pepsi-Cola!"

"Darry-" the lump moaned, "its just light out!" he pointed a lazy finger at the window and how the sun was new in the sky, "Get me when mom's got breakfast ready.."

"Sodapop" Darry sighed heavily yanking the blankets off, "You know what today is?"

"No. I don't care either. Gimme my covers!" he grabbed the corner and started to yank on them, but Darry was stronger and just let him tug and tug but he got easily no where; he gave up and sighed, and climbed out of his nice warm bed and went to his desser, "What day is it, Darry?"

"Its June twenty-first! The longest day of the year!" he grinned, "We have to get everyone together and play ALL day long!"

"Darry- did'ja ever think maybe most of the guys don't even think about gettin' up so early?" Soda huffed at his big brother as he pulled on playing clothes- their mother made a big distinction between clothes for school, clothes for work, clothes for church, and clothes for play.

"Did'ja ever think I'd care and we wouldn' do it anyway?" came the response and Sodapop gave up- he learned a long time ago he got no where when he argued with Darry. Either Darry cleverly plotted each and every possible thing Soda could say to his plans or he was just that smart- he'd decided Darry really was just plainly that smart because his brother always had a hard time sitting still too long- thats why he was so good at sports.

They got Ponyboy up with little difficulty, and both Mr. and Mrs. Curtis were early risers so they were up when the boys finally came downstairs aroun seven dressed in play attire and announced they were going out to play all day. Mrs. Curtis filled them with a good breakfast and told them to come back with the others for lunch at one. Without another word Darry, Soda and Pony were running out the door to the first house closest to theirs: Steve's.

Soda and Steve were best friends since before anyone could remember and it was just logical he was the one to step up to the front door and knock loudly until a messy-haired teen threw the door open, this was Steve's older brother Larry- he cursed at Soda but left before anyone could shout him down and he sent Steve down to the front door quickly.

Steve grinned when he saw his best friend and shut the door behind him as he stepped onto the porch, "Golly, you made him mad, Soda!" he smiled "He almost knocked my block off!"

Soda smiled back at him, "Darry's got the notion to play all day- he says its the longest day of the year and that we need to go play a whole bunch! You wanna come or go back to bed?"

"Shoot! I ain't stayin' in there all day- Larry's girlfriend and him split and he's in a bad mood- worse than usual, Soda!" and the boys had to laugh at that because as long as they could remember Larry was in a bad mood unless his mother was in the room to stop him from picking on the younger boys.

The next house was that of Keith "Two-Bit" Matthews and he was already outside looking up at the house- holding a small plastic, paint brush and he had a little plastic container of white paint at his feet. The others blinked in confusion when they saw him standing there starng up at the house aimlessly, eyes squinting upwards. Gradually they stood on either side of him and looked up too- wondering if they could see what he was looking at. Finally Darry got bored- it was almost eight and they were running out of time!

"Two-Bit, what're ya' lookin' at?" he asked exasperatley

"Well.." Two-Bit exhaled heavily, "..my mom and dad were arguin' this mornin' 'bout the house's paint chippin' an' all so I reckoned I'd fix it if he wasn't gonna but I got the stuff.." he motioned vaugley at the plastic continer of paint with his little plastic paint brush, "..but I'm lookin' at the house, and, Darry, there just ain't no way I can ever paint it up. So I reckon why bother? Work never did no one any good- I hear people get heart attacks over that. Imagine your own heart attacking you for workin'.. glory, that won't ever be me!"

Darry and the other stared at him- except Ponyboy who'd found an ant that was creeping along a blade of grass. Two-Bit looked back at the house, threw down his paintbrush and looked back at them evenly.

"Two-Bit you okay?" Darry asked softly, placing his han on the younger boy's shouler, "Did you melt your brain standin' out here?"

"Reckon so." Two-Bit smiled as they walked out the front gate and down the street.

The next stop was Johnny Cade's house because he lived right near the lot and beyond the lot was the last two homes of their last two friends. Johnny's house was whispering in the wind, it was empty for now- his parents probably weren't home. Darry stepped up and knocked on the door and there was silence before there was a crash.

"Come in!" called a squeaky little voice from inside and Darry exhaled gladly that it was only Johnny- his parents were scary. They pushed the creaky front door open on its rusty hinges and walked into the house. Johnny had scrambled up onto a counter in the kitchen- the chair he'd use had toppeled backwards, that had probably been the smash.

"What are you doin' Johnny?" Sodapop asked, looking up at him,

"Gettin' a cake.." he reached into the cabinet and pulled out a small plastic-wrapped snack and looked down at them, "Ya'll want one? I think I got enough."

"Sure, Johnny, thanks!" Two-Bit grinned as Johnny pulled out the box and gave them each one

"Cake. Cade." Ponyboy giggled as he nibbeled on the golden outside of the cake

Two-Bit's eyes lit up and he grinned- "Johnny Cake!

Johnny blushed, "Johnny cake?"

"Its perfect!" Soda grinned and looked at Steve who only nodded- he really didn't know what was going on. "Johnnycake."

Darry had to lift the chair back up so Johnny could timidly climb off the counter and step on the ground. Right on the other side of the lot near the slope to the city limits was the Shepard's house. They intended to get both of the brothers, Tim and Curly but apparently Curly was "sick" in other words Tim had beaten him up badly and wasn't able to leave the house. Tim, however, was the one to answer the door upon seeing them he turned and stuck his head back in and shouted to his mother.

"Maaaaa! I'll be home laaaatterrr!" and slammed the door shut immedeatly and turned, grinning, to them. "Are we getting Dally next?"

Pony giggled, "Dally!"

"Well- I dunno." Soda shrugged, "He's not home so much anymore- goes with that Buck kid to the stables a lot, right?"

"I hate that Buck kid" Darry sighed, "We'll go look at the stables- if he's not there we'll check his house."

They agreed and headed to the stables that settled still further from the city and their neighborhood but it wasn't a wasted trip because Dallas was indeed there, sitting on the highest post of a stable gate talking to Buck while he shoveled out the manure. Dallas was attracted to the 'big' kids. He was eight years old but always said he was ten and kids like Buck, who were sixteen, liked to bring him around for some reason. Darry was sure it was because they had nothing better to do than corrupt him, he already knew how to smoke.

"Dally!" Darry grinned waving at him and his blonde head popped up, his eyes lit up and he grinned. In the end though, Dally perferred their company over the oler kids.

"Bye Buck" he said quickly hopping off the post and ran up to them- Johnny met him half-way and he hookd his arm around the boy's shoulders and they headed for the lot.

It was easy to spend the whole day at the lot- playing cards, football and climbing trees stopping only twice to run to the Curtis' house and eat lunch and dinner then return to the lot. They played the entire day- sometimes stopping to collapse in the dry grass and stare up at the sky. Sometimes they'd get into a real fight- like Two-Bit told Dally he'd be thrown in an old folks home if his hair got any whiter. Dally was real particular about his hair but it didn't last long because Darry was the biggest and the oldest and he could yell louder than either of them. They also sat and played cards- Tim was trying to bet but when all you've got is pocket lint, a dime, and paper clips it makes for a poor pot. Plus, Soda always won so the game stopped being fun the third time around. Pony wasn't really old enough to do half of what they did, but Johnny wasn't big enough either so he usually sat and played with the littlest boy.

The day came to a close with a bright, blazing sunset right over the lot- an orange sun set behind pink clouds as the sky faded hues of blue to purple. Ponyboy curled himself up into Darry's lap and was half asleep as it went down.

"Hey" smiled Dally, "We been outside all day- we never stayed outside all day"

Darry smiled too, "We're all outsiders now"

"And not just 'cause we're outside. We're poor kids." Tim murmured

"...sure we're poor" Darry smiled, "But, we're friends, we're family. We ain't just outsiders, we're the Outsiders"

There was silence after that and the sun was down and the street lamps had come on when they finally all turned to make their good-byes. Darry was walking, Ponyboy in one arm and Soda's hand in his. Then they heard foot steps behind them and turning they saw their friends.

"Mm.. hey, Curtis," Dally scratched the back of his head, "Why don't we sleep at your place tonight?"

Darry and Soda smiled at Tim, Dally, Two-Bit and Steve "Our couch is always open fella's. Come on."

They turned their backs on the longest day of the year, went home and crashed still and forever Outsiders.

* * *

Written while jamming to a lot of rap music XD It took me nearly an hour but I think I got my "point" across. Its not a point its a feeling. Anyway- hope you liked it.


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